


Separation and Despair

by afrostpatternintherain



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Gore, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn, boi this is gonna be a ride
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-08-22 18:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8295373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrostpatternintherain/pseuds/afrostpatternintherain
Summary: Rin's life had always been calm. Everything was going as planned, until one day, the sky lit up in a blood red light. Since that day, life was hard for Rin. Separated from his family, his sister and everyone he loved, will he be able to survive or will the undead get to him?





	1. A Sky Tinted Red

Everything had started on a warm and sunny Wednesday in May.

Rin and his sister Gou were sitting in their family's garden, talking about a movie they had watched a while ago. The world seemed to be perfect and calm like this, Rin always wished life would just keep on being this beautiful.

Gou, who was two years younger than him was in love with summer and sunny weather in general. Whenever possible she would drag her brother outside so they could play in the garden or go to the swimming pool. Today was one of those exact days.

While sitting in their chairs they talked about this and that, laughed about everything and nothing between sentences.

Now, however, Gou had been unusually quiet for a while. Worried, Rin turned around so he could look at her. 'What's wrong, Gou?' She seemed to be deep in thought, which was an uncommon thing for her. After snapping his fingers several times in front of her face, she finally looked up again. Clearly, there was something bothering her. 'Hey, you there Gou?!'

' Huh? Of course big brother,' she answered, trying to act as if there was nothing wrong. However Rin knew her good enough to take a glimpse behind her facade. As he spoke to her his voice changed to a much softer tone.

' Of course, my ass. I can see there's something going on with you, Gou. So you either tell me,' he stood up and moved a bit closer to her, eyes glinting, 'or I'll tickle you and won't stop!'

Quickly, she tried to escape him. 'Don't you dare,' she giggled nonetheless. He laughed a fun laugh and leapt at her.

' Your loss!'

Gou squealed in surprise as he started to attack her tummy. At first she was able to remain calm, but then Rin made another funny face and she lost it. Laughter started to erupt from her mouth; like the sound of a chiming bell. Between giggles she begged him to stop until he finally did.

' Okay, I give up!' She was shaken by another fit of laughter. Rin helped her up and they sat down again. Gou sighed. 'It's just... I've had this bad feeling for a while now, like I'm forgetting something really important.'

All of a sudden, the sky lit up. The light was dreadfully bright, Rin feared he might go blind. Shielding his eyes with one of his hands, he reached for his sister with the other one. His heart was beating fast, too fast, as if it was trying to run from what was about to come.

Minutes later the stinging light gradually faded, leaving the sky tinted red. Never before had he seen anything even remotely similar to this.

' Gou?'

'Big brother!' she answered, fear drenching her words. Quickly, she grabbed his arm and clung onto it like a lifeline. 'I'm scared.' And Rin couldn't blame her, since he himself was horrified. Still, he had to stay strong for her, he was the big brother after all. Gou was younger than him, she needed someone older to guide her. Rin hugged her firm and quick.

' Everything's gonna be alright, I promise. Now let's go and find mum and dad.' After taking her hand he lead her back to their house and they entered through the back door.

The world seemed to be horribly silent, there were no sounds of any nearby cars or even cicadas. Only the eerie sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

They looked through every room and every corner of the house, yet there were no signs of their at all. Gou sniffled and Rin pressed her hand in a reassuring manner.

' Let's go to grandma, maybe they visited her without telling us,' he proposed.

' That's possible,' Gou said after a while, her voice small and scared.

As they exited through the front gate, there was a figure beyond recognition lying in the grass. The body was fragile, broken, and the legs were bent in awkward angles. Rin's heart stopped and he felt the sudden need to vomit. The scent of blood was in the air. Before his breakfast got the chance to come up he turned around to Gou, trying to cover her eyes. Nevertheless, it was too late.

Eyes opened in shock, filled with too many emotions at once which were glued to the body. Her shoulders shook violently and without wanting to, she took another step forward.

' Dad?' Another step. 'Is that you, dad?' Another step. 'Why won't you talk to me, why won't you answer? Dad!'

Only now had Rin realized who exactly the distorted body used to be. Desperation, fear and _something else_ were filling him. Step after step, he moved closer as well. Gou was right. This was his father's face, his father's broad figure, his father's whole being.

' Dad?' he asked as well. This all simply had to be another nightmare, reality couldn't be this harsh, this unforgiving. Certainly he would wake up every minute now, everything would be alright. Except morning never came, no matter how desperately he wished for it.

Gou was now kneeling next to their father's _corpse_ , trying to heave him up. Something was wrong, there were various parts and bits of his body _missing_.

' Wake up, dad. You'll catch a cold, stand up please!' she cried. A moment later, she realized there wasn't anything left to be done. Rin could hear her whimpering; could hear her breaking, but he himself felt nothing at all. There was just the deadness of being empty and burnt out.

' Let's go, Gou,' he mumbled after standing up again. Although he pulled her up Gou didn't move an inch.

'What are we gonna do , we can't just leave him here!'

A single tear ran down Rin's cheek, followed by a myriad more. 'We have no other choice,' he choked out.

Finally, Gou moved forward again, her face wet with tears, her clothes drenched in her father's blood. Rin took her hand without hesitation even though he could smell the coppery scent of fresh blood coming from her. By now, it was probably on him as well. They had both knelt in the blood of their family.

Without saying a word they went further down the street. A young man with glasses came running towards them, face pulled into a grimace of fear and despair.

'Kids, what are you doing here?! Go to the police station, quick! You'll be save there!' he screamed. Suddenly, a woman appeared behind him. Blood-shot eyes and a limping walk, she seemed to be horribly sick. With every step she took pained moans escaped her lips.

'Lady, are you alright?' Gou asked careful.

With another loud groan the woman leapt onto the man and rammed her teeth into his flesh.

Rin simply stared in shock, unable to move. Gou only clung harder to his arm.

'Run!' the man choked out before vomiting blood. After that he stopped moving and the sound of teeth ripping out flesh was filling the silence.

They ran with all their might.

 


	2. Planting Seeds

 

Sweat ran down his spine and spiders crawled out of his mouth, his ears, broke through his skin. In the distance, there was a faint scream of someone important he used to know, but couldn't identify just yet.

Suddenly, there was the feeling of someone shaking him gently at first, the stronger with each passing moment. Finally, the firm grip ripped him out of this recurrent nightmare.

Cold sweat was running down his neck and Makoto was staring at him with a worried, but soft expression.

'You were screaming in your sleep again. The others complained, so I had to wake you. Sorry, Rin.'

His chest was rising and sinking in a useless attempt at calming down; too fast and too unsteady.

'It's alright,' Rin breathed out, more to himself than to his friend. And then, for a second, he swore he had seen Haruka staring at him.

A small, forced smile grazed Rin's lips. 'Go back to bed Makoto, I'm alright.' However, he wasn't alright in the slightest.

Today was _the anniversary_. Of course he was having nightmares again. After all, his sister had died three years ago and everything was his damn fault.

 

'Hey, Haru?'

'Hmh?' He looked up from the seed he had been planting in the orphanage's garden.

'Would you run away with me if I asked you to?'

Now he completely gave up trying to do his work and looked at Rin, face dirty with soil.

'I've been thinking,' Rin continued, 'and realized I can't go on like that. We're trapped here.' He was drifting off and found himself staring at the fence separating them from the outside world and protecting them at the same time. There was a single zombie limping towards it, just to turn around and leave again.

'That's dangerous, Rin.'

'Danger is my middle name. Ouch!' Haru had hit him with his spatula.

'I mean it. We can't go.'

Rin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he grabbed Haru's shoulders despite having soil on his hands. 'Don't you miss swimming Haru? Don't you miss being _free_?!'

There was a slight change in expression which Rin managed to identify as sadness. Of course, Haru missed swimming. It used to be all he lived for. Bringing it up was just too cruel. Before the apocalypse, Haru had constantly been in the water; he loved swimming. Now he had barely anything left: A best friend, a rival turned pal and lots of unresolved and undiscussed feelings.

'It's a bad idea, I'm serious,' Haru sighed -after a long pause- as he planted a flower in the soil. A false image of beauty in a world full of nightmares, blood, gore and losses.

A resolve formed in Rin's head, like a riddle that's finally been solved after years and years of trying.

'You're right,' he mumbled and then smiled. 'What was I thinking.'

They continued planting seeds in the ground while arguing about everything and nothing.

 

Rin knew there was no way for him to convince Makoto and Haru to leave the orphanage with him. They were his best friends. Still, he had no choice but letting them be. Still, he couldn't help himself but feel betrayed. They knew about what kind of state the world was in, yet they never even thought about doing anything against it. In this world, Rin was all by himself.

Today was the day he would finally do it; break free. He was alone, but there was always a price to be paid if you wanted to be free.

It was at night-time and most of the other residents were either asleep or too busy to notice what exactly he was planning to do. After all, Rin was very good at being secretive.

The change of this world had planted an unnatural amount of distrust in almost everyone. Being careless only lead to death, they were all painfully aware of that.

Quickly, he grabbed the backpack filled with all different kinds of stuff which he had packed this morning and weaseled out of the dorm room.

For one last time, he looked at Haru who was already fast asleep. So this was goodbye. Without anyone noticing, he pressed a little peck on his cheek.

Not even once did Rin look back as he left the orphanage he had spent the last three years in. Headed for the fence, he managed to dodge all the supervisor which were currently patrolling in the garden.

Usually, the fence was pretty easy to cross since no one was dumb enough to even touch it. According to the supervisors, leaving the orphanage resulted in death. That might be true, but Rin had never particularly cared about what they said.

After making sure he was all by himself, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. Everything was going according to plan. Rin took out his torch for better lighting conditions when suddenly, there was _something_ in the bushes. The leaves rustled and a shiver ran down his spine. Alerted, he looked around again, but the trees and bushes were still looking as lonely as usual.

I _'m just paranoid, who would be out here at this hour?_ Rin thought to himself, shaking his head, trying to convince himself that everything was alright.

'Yo, what're you up to?'

The voice startled him and he jumped in surprise. No one was supposed to be awake by now.

'Fucking-' then he went silent for a second. Somehow, this voice rang a bell. 'Kisumi, is that you?!'

A young man who also wore a backpack emerged from the shadows. 'Yup, it's me!'

'What are you doing here?' Rin whispered, looking around for more people who could be outside. Luckily, there was no one else except for Kisumi and him. Relieved, he started ransacking his backpack. Although it was dark he still managed to spot a grin on Kisumi's face as he looked at him.

'What do you mean? I'm coming with you!' he finally declared, leaving Rin speechless.

For a moment, he was too shocked to say anything. After the initial surprise, relief followed.

'Only if you can keep up with me,' he joked and laughing, they both started to climb the fence after making sure there were no zombies trying to kill them as some sort of fucked up greeting.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boi do I love my timeskips. Just to clarify, Rin is now around 16 years old.  
>  I feel like I need to excuse myself for updating so late because yeah, school has been a major bitch again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	3. Sprained Ankles and Cliffhangers

'You think I could use this?' Kisumi shouted from what used to be a bedroom. He was holding a gun in his hands which had been locked away in an inconspicuous box.

There were footsteps and then Rin entered the room. His eyes widened in awe.

'Are there any more bullets?' he asked, still not believing what they had just found. This was a goddamn treasure.

Kisumi rummaged through a few more drawers and laughed upon finding what he'd been looking for.

'Yup, it's not much, but it'll definitely suffice!'

As he threw his arms around Rin and hugged him in an almost suffocating manner, they both laughed brazen-faced. Today was a good day after all.

Whoever used to live in this house had been prepared for almost everything. In the basement had been enough canned food for around three months and upstairs, there were still lots of clothes Rin and Kisumi could take with them.

Still, they had to leave again. Night came way too early these days and this house wasn't even remotely safe at all. Before getting there, they had already encountered at least a dozen zombies. This wasn't a good sign at all.

'Let's go Rin,' Kisumi took a deep breath and turned around to look at his friend. 'You've got everything?'

For a second, Rin thought about it.

'Fuck, I forgot my bat downstairs!' Annoyed, he brushed his hair back and turned around. 'I'll be right back.'

'Be careful.'

After heading down the dilapidated and creaky stairs, he went back to the basement. There, he could spot the bat leaning against an old washing machine.

All of a sudden, the lights flickered and turned off with an alarming **click**.

'Shit,' Rin muttered as he tried to remember how to get to the washing machine without walking into any given object lying around.

When he finally got to the bat, Rin froze. There was _something_ right behind him, he was completely sure. Very slowly, he grabbed the bat tight and as he turned around, there it was again. A snarl, a scream, a pained moan. The sound was ineffable in its devilishness; it belonged to a zombie after all. Once again, Rin found himself cursing his inability to see in the dark. Light would've made everything so much easier.

Heart beating like crazy, he knew just too well that this could be his end.

 _Stay calm_ , he tried to tell himself, _stay calm, Kisumi is right upstairs, you won't die, you can't die just yet_. Still, his mind fled to that one person he wanted to meet again before he died. Haru. Rin wouldn't die, not yet, not now.

Although it was a foolish move, he lunged forward and swung is bat with force.

Another pained groan.

Apparently, he had managed to hit at least _some part_ of the rotten corpse in front of him. Desperate, he ran up the stairs again, completely aware of the walking death itself following him.

'Since when can zombies even climb stairs! Kisumi?!' he shouted, keen to survive. On the last step however, he slipped and fell. Damn adrenaline, of fucking course.

Broken, decayed fingers grabbed him by the ankle. Just the touch itself let shivers run down his spine. For a moment, Rin felt like throwing up. He could feel the loose flesh scraping his skin. 'Kisumi!' he shouted once again and felt the zombie pulling harder and harder.

Desperate, he held onto the stairs' last step, even though he already felt the blood trickling down his fingers and scales of wood piercing his skin.

_Where is that ass when I need him?!_

All of a sudden a gunshot cut through the silence and a moment later, Rin was covered in gross, stinking blood.

'Thanks dude,' he breathed out. Kisumi offered him a hand and finally pulled him up.

'Did it bite you?' he asked, after all that was the most important question in this world. A zombie's bite meant your immediate death.

Still wrought up, Rin only managed to shake his head.

'I'm safe. The fucker just scratched me real good.'

Luckily, he had managed to escape with nothing but a sprained ankle and heavily scratched up hands and feet. This time, he had survived and was almost feeling alright again. His clothes however were drenched in gross zombie remains. Time to steal new ones from the previous house owner's wardrobe.

After having changed, both Kisumi and Rin left the house in a hurry. It was already late and the house was even less secure than first anticipated.

In the distance there were gunshots which had probably been caused by other survivors. On their way, Kisumi and Rin had met a few of them. Just like them, they had either escaped from various institutions or lived in the wilderness since the apocalypse had begun. Everyone was helpful to a certain extent, but always on guard. Your own survival was the most important thing out here after all.

Kisumi flashed a grin, pointing at what seemed to be an old camp.

'Guess we're lucky after all!'

With quick movements, they put down their stuff and Rin sent Kisumi away to find some firewood while he himself was busy bandaging his wounds as best as he could.

After he finished, he waited for his friend to return.

5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes and then 20 minutes passed. Kisumi still hadn't returned.

Something was wrong, now he was sure. Gathering firewood shouldn't take this long.

Quickly, Rin got up to search for Kisumi. In the distance there was someone screaming incoherent words and even though he couldn't make out even one of them, he knew exactly who it was.

Although he limped, Rin tried to reach his destination as fast as possible. Kisumi couldn't have gone too far.

And there he was; surrounded by at least five zombies, standing on the brink of a cliff.

'Kisumi!'

'Rin-,' with that, one of the zombies crept closer and Kisumi fell to his death.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I accidentally included a small twd reference, whoops. On a sidenote, sorry for updating just now, but school fucked me over once again. Luckily, my vacation will start in around one and a half weeks so my updating will be more frequent then. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, comments and kudos are always appreciated!  
> Oh and @Kisumi ;))))))


	4. Last Resort

'Kisumi!' Rin shouted, desperate.

He just couldn't be dead. There was no way Kisumi was dead, right? Right?!

'You goddamn fucks!'

One after one, Rin smashed the zombies' heads, leaving a trail of corpses and blood on the muddy ground behind him.

With every step he took his foot hurt, but he didn't dare to stop walking. Kisumi could still be alive.

As he reached the cliff, he froze for a second. This moment could change everything for him. Rin wasn't ready to lose anyone else. Not now, not ever. Going to his knees with his hand steadying him, Rin finally looked down.

'Oh god,' he muttered. 'Kisumi?'

Silence.

Then, a voice coming from far away.

'Rin, is that you?'

Alive. Kisumi was still alive, thank god.

'I'll come and get you, just you wait!' Rin shouted and was now searching for a way to get to his friend. Every second Rin wasted was worth more than his own life.

Kisumi was alive, but his leg had been bent in an awkward angle which looked horribly painful and unnatural. A doctor would be the best choice, but where does one look for a doctor when the world is literally ending? Still, that was a problem for later. First, he had to get to Kisumi. He wouldn't let him down.

However, there was seemingly no way to get there except for walking around the whole cliff itself. Jumping wasn't an option either, it would only end with two half-dead teens, so Rin decided to take the long way.

After around seven minutes of solid running, he tripped over some loose roots. There was an alarming cracking sound coming from his foot and Rin landed face-first in the mud.

Shit.

Desperately, he tried to stand up again. As he put some weight on his foot, sharp pain shot through it and he fell down again. His foot hurt really badly and Rin could tell it was at least strained, perhaps even broken.

Now was the worst time possible to be hurt, for fuck's sake!

Limping, Rin moved forward. By now it was completely dark outside and he realized there was no way of saving Kisumi all by himself. He just couldn't do it alone.

In the distance, there was the faint light of a fading fire. Maybe there were people who could help.

At this point, Rin really didn't care anymore. It was night and Kisumi was dying. A sprained ankle wasn't going to stop him.

Every step felt like a fire slowly burning his foot; the pain was unbearable, but he didn't stop. There was no way he could stop now. He wouldn't let anyone else die in front of his eyes, never again.

For a moment, Gou's face flickered up in his memories like a haunting ghost and the pain in Rin's heart was indescribable.

With every step he took his foot was screaming, begging him to stop, but he just ignored it. He just had to ignore it. After all, Kisumi was relying on him.

 

Half an hour later, Rin finally arrived at the place where he had seen the fire. Apparently he had found someone's camp.

There were tents, a burnt out campfire and a bit of firewood.

'Is anybody there? Hello?!'

Suddenly, there was some rustling in the bushes and a hand clasped over Rin's mouth.

'Shut up,' the voice grumbled and then released him again.

Alarmed, Rin turned around quickly and glared at the other man.

'Who are you?'

The man was glaring at him, eyebrows furrowed and eyes serious. Then, his features softened and were filled with surprise.

'Is it possible? Are you Matsuoka Rin?' he asked, his voice deep and suave.

Confused, Rin took another look at the guy. To be honest, he did look a bit familiar.

Suddenly, it dawned upon Rin who exactly this man was: Yamazaki Sousuke.

'Sousuke, is that you?' he asked carefully, waiting for any signs of confirmation. Could this really be possible?

All of a sudden , he found himself in a suffocating hug. Honestly, he swore he'd heard some of his bones crack just then. Rin groaned in pain, asking Sousuke to put him down again.

There was another pang of pain in his foot, reminding Rin of why he looked for help to begin with.

'Sousuke,' he began, 'I need your help, now. It's Kisumi.'

'Kisumi is here as well?' Sousuke asked, still surprised.

'Yeah, but he's hurt. It's really bad. I can't help him all by myself, I'm hurt as well.' Rin tried to take another step and sacked down again. 'Shit. It's worse than expected.'

Sousuke patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.

'You can rely on me, brother.' Then he turned around to one of the many tents, shouted: 'Momo, Seijurou!', and grabbed a gun.

Rin tried to follow him, yet Sousuke simply pushed him towards the biggest tent.

'You stay here, you idiot. Otherwise you'll fuck up your foot even more.'

Grumbling, Rin obeyed, but only because the pain was almost unbearable by now. So he entered the tent without complaining too much.

'Hello?' A shy voice came from behind a make-shift bed. 'Who's there?' It seemed to belong to a boy, maybe even a teenager (one could ever know).

The boy suddenly emerged from behind the bed in all his nervous glory.

'Sir, no offence, but who are you?' he asked, interested in the intruder.

Rin limped towards the bed, pointed at it in a questioning manner and sat down after the boy nodded.

'I'm Matsuoka Rin. Sousuke sent me here, no idea why.'

'Uhm excuse me for the question Sir, but are you possibly hurt?' the boy asked and then quickly extended his hand. 'Gosh, I'm so rude! I haven't even introduced myself! My name is Nitori Aiichirou.'

Rin smiled softly.

'Nice to meet you.' Then he groaned as his foot started to act up again.

'You want me to take a look at that?' Nitori suddenly advised.

'That'd be nice of you.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really, REALLY don't like how this chapter turned out, but I'm not able to produce anything better right now, so i'll probably edit this one in a bit. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, kudos and comments are always appreciated!


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